FeatureNew technologies attract a lot of hype. Descriptions used to describe new technologies such as revolutionary and ground-breaking have lost their impact through their overuse. Furthermore, this culture of over-promising makes technologists and customers cynical when they don’t see immediate or significant impact of new technology deployments.
There are many reasons why new technologies can initially flatter to deceive later. It can simply be executed in the wrong way possibly because the skills do not yet exist to design solutions and troubleshoot problems. Digital transformation is one such example, where businesses feel held back by a lack of skills with almost one in three IT decision makers citing this as a concern.
“Implementing the latest technologies requires investment in the necessary skills, data management and protection capabilities.”
It can be that a technology is simply ahead of its time and the complementary technologies that give it a clear place in the world do not exist yet. For example, the early efforts of touchscreen device by Palm and Microsoft to launch personal tablets were flawed by their inability to connect wireless to the Internet or sync with PCs and laptops. It was only when wireless technology and cloud computing reached maturity that smartphones and tablets came of age.
Finally, technology can work perfectly well, but not really solve a big enough problem to warrant significant investment. That is why you often hear talk of killer apps or use-cases that will give a new technology purpose and meaning.
“Technologies which solve a real problem are enabled by the right complementary technologies.”
Experience therefore tells us that just because a new technology might not change the way things are done tomorrow, it doesn’t mean it won’t have a big impact in the long-term. With that said, it is fine to get excited by the potential of a new technology. But as an industry we must learn to temper our expectations, and those of our customers, towards how quickly and how far new technologies will create radical and lasting change.
Technologies which solve a real problem are enabled by the right complementary technologies and are generally understood enough to be successfully tested and deployed. But there are other challenges for such technologies.
“In 2021, if you cannot confidently protect and manage data within a service or application, you should not deploy it.”
Any enterprise IT deployment requires investment, upskilling and cultural change from business leaders and employees. That means it can take years to build a compelling enough business case to convince budget holders to incorporate new deployments into their strategy. In addition, once a clear business case has been established, there are regulatory, cybersecurity and data protection requirements to throw into the mix.
Given the value modern businesses rightly place on their data and the consequences of failing to manage and protect it, is something which must be considered early in the tech lifecycle. In 2021, if you cannot confidently protect and manage data within an IT service or application, you should not deploy it.
“We must learn to temper our expectations, and those of our customers, towards how quickly new technologies will create radical change.”
Taking a strategic view of where technologies have not been successfully deployed before putting in your wider business objectives, is crucial for building the business case for them. Acquiring the necessary buy-in from budget holders to invest in complementary solutions and onboard the necessary skills is also essential.
For enterprises locked in a race to transform digitally, evolving customer demands along with an increased reliance on cloud and connectivity are forcing their hands. Implementing the latest and greatest technologies to achieve the desired outcomes of digital transformation requires investment in the necessary skills, data management and protection capabilities.
